Ministry of Justice

Drugs: Misuse

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many previous convictions at the time of sentence each offender sentenced to immediate custody for a single offence of possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs had in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 November 2014.The correct answer should have been:

Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. Previous convictions, where they are recent and relevant, must be treated as an aggravating factor by the courts and will make the sentence more severe. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts. The table below shows the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for the possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs offence in England and Wales, for the 12 months ending March 2014, by the number of previous convictions.


Immediate custody for drug offences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 35 KB)




Immediate custody for drug offences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 35 KB)

Mike Penning: Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities. Previous convictions, where they are recent and relevant, must be treated as an aggravating factor by the courts and will make the sentence more severe. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts. The table below shows the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for the possession of (a) class A, (b) class B and (c) class C drugs offence in England and Wales, for the 12 months ending March 2014, by the number of previous convictions.


Immediate custody for drug offences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 35 KB)




Immediate custody for drug offences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 35 KB)

HM Treasury

National Savings Bonds: Pensioners

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average waiting time was for calls to the pensioner bond application telephone service in each year for which figures are available.

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) assessment he has made of the efficiency of and (b) representations he has received about the telephone service for pensioner bond applications.

Mr David Gauke: This product launch has had the biggest opening sales of any retail financial product in Britain’s modern history. In advance of the launch NS&I doubled the size of their call centres, and have now added further staff to help manage the high call volumes.   Average call waiting times vary depending on time of day and different phone lines.   Low interest rates have played an important part in stimulating the recovery. But there are those – especially pensioners – who rely on a reasonable rate of interest on their savings. These new savings bonds pay a market leading rate and are designed to help support those who rely on their savings in retirement.

Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken to process changes in household circumstances for existing tax credit claims was in 2014.

Priti Patel: The average time taken to process changes in household circumstances for existing UK tax credit claims in 2014 was 11.21 average days.

Inheritance Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of HM Revenue and Customs were employed to tackle the issue of inheritance tax avoidance in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which records are available.

Mr David Gauke: Inheritance Tax compliance is organised and tackled on a National basis from offices located in Nottingham, Edinburgh and Belfast.   HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has specialist Inheritance Tax compliance teams. The time spent tackling avoidance by the IHT compliance teams is not separately recorded.

Tax Avoidance

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many disclosure of tax avoidance schemes notifications HM Revenue and Customs has received in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which records are available; and how many of those notifications were acted upon.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) statistics relating to the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes are available at   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/379821/HMRC_-_Tax_avoidance_disclosure_statistics_1_Aug_2004_to_30_Sept_2014.pdf   The statistics cover the period from 1 August 2004 to 30 September 2014 and are updated periodically. All notifications received are subject to the HMRC’s governance processes and acted upon accordingly.

Social Services: Pay

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints HM Revenue and Customs have received on non-payment of the national minimum wage by all care providers in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014; and how many such complaints subsequently led to formal investigations by HM Revenue and Customs.

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report Enforcing the National Minimum Wage - Keeping up the Pressure, published by the TUC in January 2015, and pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2014 to Question 218677, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) proactively investigate care providers who do not pay their employees the National Minimum Wage and (b) investigate complaints made by care workers to the Pay and Rights Helpline.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368. HMRC review every complaint referred to them by the PWRH and, in addition, collate and analyse data from various sources to identify employers more likely not to be paying National Minimum Wage and undertake targeted enforcement against those employers.   However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation. HMRC do not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed.   As stated above, HMRC review every complaint they receive from the PWRH. I refer the honorable member to the response given to UIN 220731 for details of HMRC’s current proactive work.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Electoral Register

Helen Goodman: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what steps are being taken to ensure that people who omitted their National Insurance numbers from their electoral registration are made aware of the need to provide that information.

Mr Gary Streeter: Individuals applying to register to vote must provide their National Insurance number (NINO) or a reason why they are unable to supply it.This requirement is clear on both the online and paper application forms, and an online application cannot be submitted without either the NINO or a reason why they can’t supply it. If a paper application is submitted without this information, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will contact the applicant to make them aware of the need to provide it. If a person has a NINO but does not know where to find it, the ERO will provide advice on how to locate it.Where a NINO has not been provided and a reason for this has been given, the ERO may use local data sources, such as council tax or housing benefit, to verify the identity of the applicant. If the applicant is not verified through local data sources, the ERO will contact the applicant explaining that they will need to provide documentary evidence, such as a passport or the photo card part of a current driving licence, to verify their identity.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223458, what the current (a) employment protections and (b) collective bargaining rights are for contractors working in the offshore oil and gas sector.

Jo Swinson: A contractor’s employment protections will depend on the facts of the working relationship and the contract under which they are working. This is irrespective of whether the individual is being contracted for offshore work or not. Contractors who are actually workers or employees would be entitled to the same basic employment protections as other offshore workers with a similar status, and indeed would have common collective rights. Contractors who are self-employed may be entitled to a smaller number of employment protections, depending on the terms of their contract. There is no single list of the protections and rights of offshore workers and contractors because these will be specific to the contract, the location of the work place and the employment status of the contractor. The Government is exploring how to add clarity to this as part of the employment status review.